Music News: Bruce Springsteen reads new ‘Born On the Fourth of July’ foreword

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Bruce Springsteen has written a new forward to Born On the Fourth of July, the memoir by wounded Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic. In the foreword, Springsteen talks about how he discovered the book in 1978 and subsequently befriended Kovic. Springsteen reads the foreword for a new audiobook edition of the memoir; hear Springsteen’s foreword at Rolling Stone.

Remembering Rob Wasserman

Bassist Rob Wasserman has died of undisclosed health issues at age 64. In demand as a collaborator for decades, Wasserman worked with artists including Neil Young, Elvis Costello, and Lou Reed. He also released Grammy-nominated solo recordings. (Billboard)

Goodbye to Other Music

New York record store Other Music has closed its doors — and been properly celebrated, with a huge tribute concert featuring Sharon Van Etten and Yo La Tengo among others. Most notably, Yoko Ono appeared at the Wednesday night show, duetting with Van Etten on a Leonard Cohen song (“Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye”). (Rolling Stone)

A video posted by corey (@quintessenceyyy) on Jun 29, 2016 at 12:15am PDT

Wondering what all the hype is/was about? Check out this 360º video tour of the store, narrated by co-founder Josh Madell. (Pitchfork)

Cameron misquotes Smiths

British Prime Minister David Cameron is well-known to be a Smiths fan — but he’s not such a big fan that he got the lyrics quite right when he quoted “There is a Light That Never Goes Out” when answering a question in a recent Q&A with Members of Parliament. He came pretty close, though: “I think the lyrics are ‘If a double decker bus crashes into us, there’s no finer way than by your side,'” said Cameron. Actually, it’s “If a double decker bus crashes into us/ To die by your side is such a heavenly way to die.” (NME)

“Love Me Do” drums to be sold

The drums Andy White played on iconic Beatles single “Love Me Do” will be auctioned off on Thursday, with bidding starting at $15,000. Ringo Starr, who was just getting started with the group, played tambourine on the recording. (Rolling Stone)

David Byrne doc headed to theaters (next year)

Contemporary Color, a documentary about the concerts David Byrne and collaborators performed with color-guard accompaniment, is headed to theaters. The feature-length film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and a distributor has picked up the rights to bring the film to theaters in 2017. (Rolling Stone)

Streaming wars heat up

Elizabeth Warren has taken a break from criticizing Donald Trump to turn to another subject: Apple, which has imposed conditions on iOS apps that some find onerous. “While Apple Music is easily accessible on the iPhone,” said the Massachusetts senator in a speech, “Apple has placed conditions on its rivals that make it difficult for them to offer competitive streaming services.” (Billboard)

Spotify is also crying foul over Apple’s treatment of its streaming rivals. Spotify’s head counsel wrote a letter to his Apple counterpart, saying Apple is “causing grave harm to Spotify and its customers” by demanding that users go through Apple’s billing system — meaning that Apple makes money even when users pay Spotify subscription fees. (Pitchfork)

Don’t worry, though: the music industry’s “future is actually brighter than ever.” According to who? YouTube, of course. A thousand musicians, who recently signed a letter protesting the streaming giant’s practices, beg to differ. (Pitchfork)